Outdated SEO Tactics That No Longer Work

Outdated SEO Tactics That No Longer Work

Stop Doing SEO 2007 Style!

A great SEO strategy is vital for online marketing success. The problem is that things are always changing in the digital world. A strategy that served you well in the past may not work in the present. This is why you need to look out for changes in the world of digital marketing and adapt to these changes. Besides, you do not want to get on the wrong side of Google’s Panda and Penguin algorithm updates. Below are some old school SEO tactics that no longer work.

Get More Links for Higher Page Rank
Some years ago, many internet marketers believed that link building was all you needed to succeed in the digital marketing world. As a result, marketers concentrated on link building without considering the quality of these links. This may have worked in the past, but it does not work any longer. Link building is still an important SEO strategy but creating too many links is not the right move. Concentrate on quality links and you will achieve better results.

Post Ultra-short Content
Some years back many webmasters encouraged website owners to post articles under the 300-word benchmark. These ultra-short articles were used for successful SEO campaigns back then. These days, it makes a lot of sense to post longer articles with meaningful content.

Utilize Every Guest Blogging Opportunity
Before the Penguin 2.0, many online gurus recommended guest blogging as one of the best SEO tactics. At that time, many people thought guest blogging was simply a matter of spewing out as much content as possible. Some bloggers even wrote on topics that were not related to their industry with the aim of attracting back links. These days, that strategy does not work. When it comes to successful guest blogging, less can be more. The right move to concentrate on authority websites that are relevant to your industry. Post your blogs on a smaller scale and always provide excellent and useful content.

Post Many Press Releases
Many webmasters encouraged website owners to post endless press releases in the past. This is because press releases give you free publicity and adds content to your site. The thing is that there is no point in posting press releases if they do not add value to your site. In the present era, press releases should be informative and relevant to generate ranking value.

Create More Pages to Get More Traffic
This was a popular SEO strategy in the past because many people had the impression that if you have more pages, you will get more traffic to your site. The truth is that this strategy will not work in the present internet era. If you just focus on quantity without quality, this will not help your cause. Google’s Panda algorithm updates are great at detecting bad content. If you stuff your site with many pages of bad content, you may be penalized. Do not write for search engines. Provide great content and you will get better results.

Fill Your Web Pages with Keywords and Tags
Keyword stuffing is the “unethical” act of shoving as many keywords as possible onto your pages. Many webmasters were convinced that this is the perfect way to rank higher in search engine results. This is like posting the words, “San Diego SEO Company” many times throughout the entire page. Many people were also guilty of filling pages with meta tags, and they probably used this ploy to deceive search engines for a while. This strategy is outdated now because search engines are more advanced these days.

Post Content to Article Directories
Some years back, many “experts” recommended posting articles to article directories. The idea was that having a presence on these article directories would give your site free publicity and create more customers for your business. Some internet marketing gurus also encouraged website owners to embrace article marketing and touted this ploy as an effective internet marketing strategy. The truth is this strategy is a complete waste of time these days.

Neglect Image Management
It pays to include images within your blog posts and article content. In the past, digital marketers and webmasters did not tag images the right way. They did not utilize alt-text the way experts do today. The result was that these images were “uncrawable” by search engines, and this is why they missed huge opportunities. These days, digital experts do not leave images uncategorized. They use excellent image optimization techniques to get great results.

Use Article Spinning Software
Article spinning is a method of rewriting or spinning previously written content using automated methods. It is an unethical practice, and it is a form of plagiarism. Digital marketers used this strategy (if you can call it a strategy) in the past. These days, article spinning will not work because advanced software can spot spun articles easily.

Excessive Use of H1 Tags
Many webmasters encouraged their clients to use H1 tags excessively. This was a smart way to take advantage of search ranking algorithms in the past. Unfortunately, many people manipulated these tags by overusing them to game the system. These days, you cannot game the system via H1 tags. There are updates and adjustments in place to ensure that the system will not reward the shady strategy of excessive H1 tags.

Final word
Search engine optimization is still relevant to internet marketing, but SEO is dynamic. Some strategies that worked in the past will not work in the present era. This is why internet marketers need to stay on top of the game. Learn the current strategies and avoid outdated and unethical SEO tactics.